22: being in love with rhetoric, I can't help but notice the word choice at the beginning of the chapter, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love..." -NKJ God deliberately includes the words "only" and "love" to make the impact of his command ever more frightening. I can only imagine the conversations that went on during these three days that they were traveling. That's a lot of conversation time. I think Abraham would be trying to teach his son how great God is before he is put on the alter, so that maybe Isaac will understand his father's actions. Again the words "only son" appear in verse 12. The angel is congratulating Abraham on his passage of the test.
What does "the gate of their enemies mean?"
24: I learned in class, that "under my thigh" actually means to hold his genitals because the issue was dealing with continual lineage and that is where the seed is centered. Why was Abraham so set on the servant not taking his son to his homeland? Were there people there who might think poorly upon him? We discussed a little that incest might have caused a problem to Isaac's appearance so no woman would want him, but I think it is deeper than that. The servant's prayer is very genuine and touching. He obviously holds his master and God in the highest respect and wants the best for him and his son. It seems to come out of love and not fear. When the servant says "the Lord led me to the house of my master’s brethren.” -NKJ he is quite literal. The father of Rebekah is Bethuel who is the son of Abraham's brother. Some would take this as future kin, but it acts as both past and present. Laban goes through quite a bit of work to please the servant. I wonder if he only wished for the gifts which were seen, or if he wanted to give Rebekah up quickly. Rebekah's family seemed as though they heard the servant say the Lord brought Rebekah before him to take back, so they believed him and gave her up. There was no question of validity. Laban, of course, wants to keep the servant longer for reasons we can only guess are greed, but Rebekah agrees that they should go now.
It is not clear as to why Rebekah hides her face when she knows it is Isaac, but my guess it that it was custom. It was proper for women not to be seen by the man they are to be with until they are wed, but those are my thoughts.
25: I find it very ironic the way the beginning of chapter 25 is set up. It lists all these other children of Abraham and then goes to say, 5 And Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. -NKJ did he neglect the other children? It says he gave them gifts, but then what does it mean to give all you have to one child and only gifts to another? If I were the other children, I would have a lot of resentment built up towards Isaac. What was Isaac's life like with all those other children?
I was able to take a closer look at the difference between Isaac and Abraham's reaction to life. Abraham and Sarah tried to solve their baby problem by themselves, not trusting in God, by giving up Hagar. On the other hand, Isaac prayed to God for Rebekah. They both trusted that the Lord would provide the answer, and he does.
I cannot imagine that amount of hunger Esau must have been facing to give up his birth right. Over half the land of his father, he gave up for a bowl of soup and bread. The name red = Edom and the Edomites are Esau's eventual people. That is interesting that the soup he sold his birthright for will follow him throughout his life. You have to think though that Jacob had been meditating on this day. He did not think about what he would want from Esau in return for the soup, nor did he give it freely. Jacob had been planning on this day to come.
27: First, I learned that Isaac was breaking some rules, too. He was only suppose to give the blessing when he was on his death bed, but we learn later that Isaac lives much longer after he blesses his sons. In reaction to this, Rebekah decides for herself who should receive the blessing. Many people, including myself, thought that Rebekah was the one to blame, when in reality Isaac was not perfect either. The blessing given is very interesting wording. Isaac says, "And let your mother’s sons bow down to you." -NKJ This is ironic because it truly is Rebekah's favorite son who will rule. Isaac was hoping that Esau would be ruler and Jacob the servant, but his words were against him. I always thought that the birthright and blessing were the same thing, but reading the text again I find they are two separate things. Esau only receives a blessing that he will live by the sword and eventually break away from his brother's rule. He sounds like a baby crying, “Bless me—me also, O my father!” -NKJ He then makes the mistake of telling his mother, the one who took the blessing from him, about wanting to kill Jacob. Rebekah sends him to her brother's house thinking Esau's anger will subside. I think it will take a very long time for that to happen.
There is very little mention of God in this chapter. I find that odd because in the beginning Isaac and Rebekah are very Godly and consult him on many things. This could be a cause for the fighting in their family. just as the descendants of Adam and Eve had to suffer because they fell away, Jacob and Esau will have to suffer until their parents realize their mistake, if they ever do.
29: Jacob shows his true strength when he rolls the stone away from the well. Just as his mother could water the camels, he had the strength of many men. We all saw Jacob as a man of the fields, maybe scrawny and not the fighter that we picture Esau as. But, in reality, Jacob is a very strong man. The image in my mind will probably stay the same but I know now it is not very accurate. Verse 20 is lovely! He loved Rachel so much that the seven years seemed like nothing for him. He did anything for her. I despise Laban for tricking Jacob because it only leads to Leah's hurt. She did not want Jacob, but did want to be loved. Jacob, however, is at fault because he should not have neglected Leah as much as he did. If you don't love her, don't sleep with her! (This is a little funny right now because I just watched an episode of Reba when Reba tells Cheyenne not to sleep with a man unless she loves him.) Poor Leah tries three times to be loved or even accepted by Jacob, and finally realizes that she should start giving praise only to the Lord. My heart goes out for her. I feel Jacob learned this neglect from his father and thought that someone else would take care of Leah.
32: They were allowed female slaves? Is that the same thing as a mid-wife or servant? I find it interesting that Jacob is offering worldly things to try and please Esau, when worldly things are what got them into this mess in the first place. That is good thinking on Jacob's part trying to save some of his pack. I can imagine his eyes budging when the servant says 400 men are with Esau because you know they are probably just like him, big and strong. Jacob prays to God saying he is unworthy of everything God has given him; is he admitting that he deceived to receive the birthright and now he must pay for his actions? After confession he asks God for protection.
I remember one time at church when we learned the five steps of prayer and I think Jacob has this down except for reminding God of what he said. I 'm pretty sure God would not have forgotten his promise to Jacob, but Jacob is like Abraham; he prods God to continue what he promised.
The way the text reads I am ready for failure; it is a rising action that he tells the servants to spread the gifts apart. After Jacob sends everyone ahead of him, he is alone. Randomly, it seems, a man appears and they begin to wrestle. I think it is interesting that Jacob automatically thinks the man is God because he will not tell him his name. I would have thought it could have been Esau, so changed over time that Jacob did not recognize him. How does the naming of places work? Is the specific spot only that name, and does everyone automatically know what to call the place? This happens frequently when God appears, but I wonder how word spreads.
So Jacob is now Israel. I thought they were all Israelites...
The reading skips chapter 34 which is unfortunate because we don't learn what happens between brothers. I feel very uneducated in class. Everyone seems to know so much more than I do about people and happenings in the Bible. Is it simply because they went to Private Christian Schools? I am proud of my upbringing but am sad because I can not connect things in the Bible, yet.
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