Day 21 – Genesis 27-29

Talking Points

• Jacob, following Rebekah’s leading, carries out a great deception of his father. As a result, he steals Esau’s blessing. Esau vows to kill Jacob as soon as Isaac dies.
• Think about this — so far:
  • A father has a favorite son.
  • The mother has a favorite son.
  • The mother plans to deceive her husband.
  • The mother seeks to cheat one of her sons.
  • A brother lies to his father.
  • The same brother steals from his own brother.
  • A brother, in seething hatred, plans to murder his brother.
    
    What a mess! Clearly, family dysfunction is not a new thing!
• As Jacob flees from Esau, he has an encounter with God, who promises to bless him. Don’t miss that — the lying, cheating, fleeing brother is met by God and promised a blessing! He is truly a God of mercy and grace!
• Jacob travels to the land of his family to find a wife. Due to another act of deceit, this time on the part of his soon-to-be father-in-law, Jacob ends up with two wives, Leah and Rachel.

Thoughts

The Bible is God’s speech. It is literally His Word. The question is — is it speaking to me? What does that mean? Learning how to read and apply the Bible is imperative to our Christian walks. These accounts illustrate the truth that there are descriptive verses (verses that are telling something) and prescriptive verses (those that are calling for something) in Scripture.

The accounts we just read are primarily descriptive in nature. They are important. They have a purpose. They teach us. However, they are not intended to be lifted from the context and somehow made to be about us. Rather, we see God describing how He chooses to work out His plan through people — sinful people. He describes their lives, detailing their sinfulness. He describes His choice to use them to carry out His perfect plan in spite of their sin. Using these descriptive verses, it becomes increasingly clear — God’s plan moves forward because of His greatness and power, and not in the strength of people. What a necessary truth!

Weird how something that may seem so academic in nature (understanding descriptive and prescriptive verses) actually has profound spiritual implications. Today, I pray that God leads us to see and handle His Word in the manner that leads us to best understand Him and His great plan of redemption.