†. Gen 28:1a . . So Isaac sent for Jacob and blessed him. He
instructed him:
This is the first time, at least on record, that Isaac has shown any real
interest in Jacob's spiritual condition. You just have to wonder if Jacob
received any religious instruction at all from his dad. I would not be
surprised if Rebecca has been Jacob's only tutor up to this point.
Isaac went through a very traumatic experience. I think he was shaken, and
it appears to have succeeded in bringing him back to his senses. Now he
renders upon Jacob the full extent of Abraham's blessing; which he really
should have done a long time ago.
†. Gen 28:1b-4 . .You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite
women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your
mother's father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of
Laban, your mother's brother. May El Shaddai bless you, make you
fertile and numerous, so that you become an assembly of peoples.
May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you and your offspring,
that you may possess the land where you are sojourning, which God
assigned to Abraham.
It would have been much wiser of course, if circumstances had permitted, to
keep Jacob at home and dispatch a trusted servant up to Haran to fetch a
wife back down to Canaan like Abraham did for Isaac. But at this point, I
guess that option was out of the question. Isaac's patriarchal laxity is having
quite a domino effect upon Jacob's future. He's going to be tricked into
taking two wives, sisters at that, and squander twenty years of his life
indentured to a very crafty, dishonest man.
†. Gen 28:5 . .Then Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went to Paddan
aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of
Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau.
I just have to wonder if Isaac would have thought of Laban at all if not for
Rebecca putting a bug in his ear.
Not only was Laban an Aramean, but so were Abraham, Lot, Sarah, and
Rebecca. The boys (Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Esau) were born in Canaan.
So of what country were they? Canaan wasn't a united sovereignty like the
USA. It was a frontier territory. Along the coast were Philistine colonies; the
remainder populated by many communities scattered all over the place
much like Native American peoples were in America's early days.
I don't know about Ishmael and Esau, but Isaac and Jacob looked ahead to a
future country that they would call home. That country didn't exist just yet
in Jacob's day, but it would eventually, and he would be a somebody there--
Abraham's covenant guarantees it. Those men haven't missed out on
anything. According to the New Testament's Jesus, they will all return some
day and live in that land as citizens in land promised to Abraham.
†. Mtt 8:11 . . I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,
and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven.
The writer of Hebrews said, that although those three men were pilgrims in
Canaan, they will one day live inside it as citizens in a town of their own.
†. Heb 11:8-10 . . By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would
later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not
know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land
like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob,
who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to
the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
I don't know exactly how much detail those men knew in their day; but that
"city with foundations" is going to be some piece of work. (cf. Rev 21:2-27)
†. Gen 28:6-7 . .When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and
sent him off to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, charging him,
as he blessed him "You shall not take a wife from among the
Canaanite women" and that Jacob had listened to his father and
mother and gone to Paddan-aram,
That had to shake Esau up even more. Up to this point, for many, many
years, he had been daddy's little boy. Now, practically overnight, Jacob
takes center stage. It must have been very disturbing and I have no doubt it
made Esau feel extremely insecure; probably for the first time in his life.
Jacob listened to his parents. The difference between Jacob and Esau really
shows in that respect. Esau did pretty much whatever he pleased. But Jacob
wasn't like that. Even at 75 years old he took his parents advice. American
kids today are famous for ignoring their parents guidance; and they usually
end up regretting it too.
I once heard a story about a know-it-all kid who, while living at home and
attending college, thought his ol' dad was behind the times and just a big
dummy. Well, eventually the boy went off on his own and out into the
workaday world. Some years later, he returned home to visit his parents and
was heard to remark: Dad sure got smart while I was gone.
His dad was smart all along, but the boy was to immature at the time and
didn't know how to recognize true wisdom . He thought smartness came
from IPods, rap music, books, education, couture, sitcoms, social
networking, and computer science. But none of those really prepared the
boy to pick his friends with care, hold down a job, to select a spouse, nor to
keep a marriage from falling apart. His hep-smarts made him wise in culture
but not wise in life.
Although Esau was Isaac's favorite, I really don't think he ever disciplined,
scolded, nor lectured his eldest son for anything. I think he indulged Esau,
and let him run wild so as to avoid stressing their relationship. Even though
Esau's wives were a misery to Isaac and Rebecca, apparently no one ever
spoke up and said anything about it till now; and as a result; Esau
discovered for himself the truth of one of the oldest proverbs in the book.
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong;
Gives it a superficial appearance of being right. -- Thomas Paine
Cont.
/
instructed him:
This is the first time, at least on record, that Isaac has shown any real
interest in Jacob's spiritual condition. You just have to wonder if Jacob
received any religious instruction at all from his dad. I would not be
surprised if Rebecca has been Jacob's only tutor up to this point.
Isaac went through a very traumatic experience. I think he was shaken, and
it appears to have succeeded in bringing him back to his senses. Now he
renders upon Jacob the full extent of Abraham's blessing; which he really
should have done a long time ago.
†. Gen 28:1b-4 . .You shall not take a wife from among the Canaanite
women. Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of Bethuel, your
mother's father, and take a wife there from among the daughters of
Laban, your mother's brother. May El Shaddai bless you, make you
fertile and numerous, so that you become an assembly of peoples.
May He grant the blessing of Abraham to you and your offspring,
that you may possess the land where you are sojourning, which God
assigned to Abraham.
It would have been much wiser of course, if circumstances had permitted, to
keep Jacob at home and dispatch a trusted servant up to Haran to fetch a
wife back down to Canaan like Abraham did for Isaac. But at this point, I
guess that option was out of the question. Isaac's patriarchal laxity is having
quite a domino effect upon Jacob's future. He's going to be tricked into
taking two wives, sisters at that, and squander twenty years of his life
indentured to a very crafty, dishonest man.
†. Gen 28:5 . .Then Isaac sent Jacob off, and he went to Paddan
aram, to Laban the son of Bethuel the Aramean, the brother of
Rebecca, mother of Jacob and Esau.
I just have to wonder if Isaac would have thought of Laban at all if not for
Rebecca putting a bug in his ear.
Not only was Laban an Aramean, but so were Abraham, Lot, Sarah, and
Rebecca. The boys (Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and Esau) were born in Canaan.
So of what country were they? Canaan wasn't a united sovereignty like the
USA. It was a frontier territory. Along the coast were Philistine colonies; the
remainder populated by many communities scattered all over the place
much like Native American peoples were in America's early days.
I don't know about Ishmael and Esau, but Isaac and Jacob looked ahead to a
future country that they would call home. That country didn't exist just yet
in Jacob's day, but it would eventually, and he would be a somebody there--
Abraham's covenant guarantees it. Those men haven't missed out on
anything. According to the New Testament's Jesus, they will all return some
day and live in that land as citizens in land promised to Abraham.
†. Mtt 8:11 . . I say to you that many will come from the east and the west,
and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven.
The writer of Hebrews said, that although those three men were pilgrims in
Canaan, they will one day live inside it as citizens in a town of their own.
†. Heb 11:8-10 . . By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would
later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not
know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land
like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob,
who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to
the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
I don't know exactly how much detail those men knew in their day; but that
"city with foundations" is going to be some piece of work. (cf. Rev 21:2-27)
†. Gen 28:6-7 . .When Esau saw that Isaac had blessed Jacob and
sent him off to Paddan-aram to take a wife from there, charging him,
as he blessed him "You shall not take a wife from among the
Canaanite women" and that Jacob had listened to his father and
mother and gone to Paddan-aram,
That had to shake Esau up even more. Up to this point, for many, many
years, he had been daddy's little boy. Now, practically overnight, Jacob
takes center stage. It must have been very disturbing and I have no doubt it
made Esau feel extremely insecure; probably for the first time in his life.
Jacob listened to his parents. The difference between Jacob and Esau really
shows in that respect. Esau did pretty much whatever he pleased. But Jacob
wasn't like that. Even at 75 years old he took his parents advice. American
kids today are famous for ignoring their parents guidance; and they usually
end up regretting it too.
I once heard a story about a know-it-all kid who, while living at home and
attending college, thought his ol' dad was behind the times and just a big
dummy. Well, eventually the boy went off on his own and out into the
workaday world. Some years later, he returned home to visit his parents and
was heard to remark: Dad sure got smart while I was gone.
His dad was smart all along, but the boy was to immature at the time and
didn't know how to recognize true wisdom . He thought smartness came
from IPods, rap music, books, education, couture, sitcoms, social
networking, and computer science. But none of those really prepared the
boy to pick his friends with care, hold down a job, to select a spouse, nor to
keep a marriage from falling apart. His hep-smarts made him wise in culture
but not wise in life.
Although Esau was Isaac's favorite, I really don't think he ever disciplined,
scolded, nor lectured his eldest son for anything. I think he indulged Esau,
and let him run wild so as to avoid stressing their relationship. Even though
Esau's wives were a misery to Isaac and Rebecca, apparently no one ever
spoke up and said anything about it till now; and as a result; Esau
discovered for himself the truth of one of the oldest proverbs in the book.
A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong;
Gives it a superficial appearance of being right. -- Thomas Paine
Cont.
/
